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At risk of suspension, EMU reaffirms pledge to address performance issues in its charter schools

Ann Arbor Learning Community.JPG

Ann Arbor Learning Community students and visitors check out the school's library space under a new bottle cap mosaic in this file photo. The school at 3980 Research Park Drive in Ann Arbor is one of two charter schools in Washtenaw County that is authorized by Eastern Michigan University.
(File photo | The Ann Arbor News)

Eastern Michigan University says it has been taking steps to address academic performance issues in some of the schools it authorizes throughout the past two years, and that it does not have plans to authorize new charter schools.

State Superintendent Mike Flanagan said the 11 of 40 charter school authorizers in the state had deficiencies in their oversight of the schools they authorize. Academic performance, contracts that don't meet state requirements and issues identified in recent audits are among the criteria used to target authorizers.

Flanagan pledged earlier this year to increase accountability for authorizers in the wake of a Detroit Free Press investigation into oversight issues in Michigan's charter schools.

All of the charter school authorizers named Monday by the state oversee charter schools that are in the bottom 10 percent of the state’s academic “Top to Bottom” ranking list, according to the MDE.

EMU also had one or more of its public school academies with issues in their 2013 audit, and one or more schools with a budget deficit, according to the state.

"...We do not have any plans to add new public school academies now or in the foreseeable future," according to a statement from EMU spokesman Geoff Larcom. "Our focus is on working with the 12 public school academies we oversee, several of which perform well, in order to continue to address the performance issues in those academies in question."

EMU is the authorizer for 12 charter schools. In Washtenaw County, those are Ann Arbor Learning Community and Global Tech Academy, which is set to open this fall.

Other schools chartered through EMU are Grand Blanc Academy in Grand Blanc; Great Lakes Academy in Pontiac; Dr. Joseph F. Pollack Academic Center of Excellence in Southfield; Gaudior Academy in Inkster; Academy for Business and Technology Elementary School in Dearborn; and the James and Grace Lee Boggs School, Detroit Public Safety Academy, Hope Academy and Commonwealth Community Development Academy in Detroit.

"We take very seriously our role as a Charter Schools authorizer, and as we have stated previously we are not satisfied with the academic performance at some of our schools," according to the statement from Larcom. "We initiated steps to address the performance issues in the schools in question over the past two years. Those steps include 'putting schools on notice' via an abbreviated contract renewal term (instead of the five-year renewal), replacing school board members, and providing additional professional development support to those schools."

EMU has until Oct. 22 to fix issues with accountability, transparency and fiscal governance of the schools they charter. Flanagan will decide in November which institutions will be permanently suspended from authorizing charter schools.

Should an authorizer be suspended, it would only impact that institution's ability to open new schools or expand existing ones. The suspension does not affect schools that have already been authorized, according to the state.

"We have been and will continue to work closely and collaboratively with the Superintendent's office to address and and all issues identified by the October 22 deadline," Larcom said in a statement.